Portland Blog: This Week in Portland April 23rd
- April 30th 2011

Happy sunny, warm, bird chirping morning,
Portland and welcome to another edition of this Portland
blog. Today, I am marching to the beat of the drum...that would be the
steady beat of my heart as I feel the earth's tilt toward the sun. This
weather makes me feel alive and full ideas -- and today I've got gardening on my
mind. I'm completely stoked to don my overalls and grab a shovel and start work
on our brand new front yard garden. Pistils Nursery
did the garden
design based on plants --flowering perennials-- in the bright, showy colors I
love such as pink, reds, yellows and whites. The garden is designed especially
for native, lower water plants and to attract hummingbirds, bees and all sorts
of birds. The garden design was finalized by Pistils on Wednesday and the plants,
also sourced by Pistils, will be delivered in a few days. Today's task is to prepare the front yard
for rototilling and amending the soil
in preparation for new, glorious life.

This Week's Top Ten in Portland

The theme this week is: outdoorsy, garden, beer, coffee, wildlife.

1. Pygmy Goats - When my neighbor told
me he'd be bringing home goats to live in his backyard, I was a little shocked.
Goats in North Portland? Well, pygmy they are and sweeter than imaginable is my
testament! They have become fast favorites of the neighborhood children and love
to walk on leashes. Meet Joannie and Chrissy:

2. The Great Blue Heron - Imagine my surprise to look out on my
backyard pond and see a Blue Heron fishing. Literally. Allow me to remind you,
gentle reader, that the Blue Heron is approximately 4 feet tall and has a
whopping 7 foot wing spread. Definitely not your common backyard birdie. I
didn't have a camera anywhere near me, unfortunately. Oh, and none of the fish
were taken...

3. How to Distract a Squirrel 101 -
My backyard bird feeders have been busy with all sorts of beautiful, singing
birdies. They've also been the location of some crazy circus antics ala
squirrels dangling upside down and off the side of the hanging feeder to eat the
tasty bird food. "Don't you feed the squirrels, too?", one might ask. Yes, but
the corn and seed mix is gone nearly as fast as I put it in the feeder. I watch
them run off with bursting cheeks and I can't keep up with them. So, I asked
around and got some awesome advice I am sharing with you. Buy a large bag of
peanuts in the shell and fill the squirrel feeder. The squirrels will work with
one peanut at a time, selecting it from the feeder bin and running off to bury
it. Rinse, repeat. They've been busy on one bin for nearly a day now which means
my bird feeder is totally squirrel free. Score!

4. Coava Coffee Roasters - Represent! A
few of Coava's finest will be heading off this weekend to compete in the
United States Barista Competition
hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. You may recall a few
months ago when Coava swept the regional competition, winning 1st place in
all categories. Well, now, they're off to Houston to compete for the #1 spot
in the country. Next stop after that for the winner? The World Barista
Competition which will be held in Columbia. Wish Sam and Devin from Coava
godspeed on their mission to bring home the gold!

Below: Sam Purvis of
Coava Coffee Roasters in Costa Rica
cupping coffees to find the perfect one for the competition.

The Portland Photo of the Week

The Portland Photo of the Week winner this week is
Peace
by
Donna
Otter.

Our Portland Photo of the Week winner gets a gift certificate to a
local Portland business of our choosing. Donna will receive a $20 gift
certificate to local Portland brewery, The Lucky Lab. Three cheers for
solar powered beer! Enjoy!

Featured Portland Events

Here are the featured Portland events this week focusing
on events happening this weekend or those just around the corner! Thanks to everyone for adding all
the great Portland events to the community events calendar. You can add
your own Portland events directly to the events calendar
here.
Just click "Add an Event" and fill in the details.

Alberta Earth Day Cleanup Alberta Main Street is working to help Alberta
Street achieve its full potential as a vibrant business district. One of our
main goals has been to implement a new waste pickup and graffiti-removal
program, to help keep the street sparkling. To kickoff the regular street
cleanings, Alberta Main Street is hosting a neighborhood “Deep Clean”,
encouraging community members to come out on Earth Day for a morning of trash
pickup and good “clean” fun.

Last Wednesday at Ground Kontrol - Last Wednesday" of every
month...Ground Kontrol trades a cover charge for a night of FREE video games and
pinball tables! 21+, $5 cover for FREE GAMES ALL NITE! Doors open at
5pm, DJs start at 9pm

APEX: Geraldine Ondrizek Art magnifies, informs, and is informed by science
in Geraldine Ondrizek’s haunting recent work. Scientific processes are made both
visually and aurally articulate in these three restrained multi-sensory
installation works: The Sound of Cells Dividing and Cellular from 2008 and Case
Study from 2010. Ondrizek has worked for years to successfully employ
metaphorical representation to “illustrate” the leading technical edge of
science. The works featured in APEX are a striking achievement. It is a space
for contemplation; beautiful, yet because of what it depicts, also ominous. APEX
is an ongoing series of exhibitions showcasing Northwest-based artists.

Art in the Garden Spring 2011 Exhibition at the Portland Japanese Garden: Come
Back Koi! The second exhibition in the Living in Harmony with Nature
series for 2011 celebrates koi as a vital part of the Garden’s ecology. It is
the colorful koi that bring the ponds to life and have always held a special
place in the hearts of Garden visitors. Featuring the delicately beautiful
woodblock prints of Tokyo artist Kunio Kaneko, this exhibition also displays an
array of hand painted Edo and Meiji period koi-nobori wind socks and giant
nobori-bata banners from the private collection of Mr. Naoteru Hayashi of
Yoshitoku Doll Company, a 300-year-old doll shop in Tokyo. Demonstrations of
woodblock printing by Mr. Kaneko highlight this Art in the Garden exhibition.
The exhibition honors the koi lost in the winter storm of 2008, and celebrates
the anticipated arrival of new koi to the Garden on Children’s Day, May 7. At
the Garden Pavilion -- Free with Garden admission

Oregon Potters Association and the Ceramic Showcase Present the “Gathering of
the Guilds” The Ceramic Showcase and Gathering of the Guilds is the
only art show like it in the country. Not only is it the largest clay show in
the U.S., but features work from a variety of art guilds including: Creative
Metal Arts Guild, Oregon Glass Guild, Guild of Oregon Woodworkers, Northwest
Fine Woodworkers Guild, Portland Bead Society and the Portland Handweavers
Guild. This one-of-a-kind show will feature over 350 booths of diverse,
spectacular art for the home, garden and office. This event will also feature
daily demonstrations by nationally-acclaimed ceramic artists, adult and children
“clay play” areas, live music Friday and Saturday night and Oregon wine tasting.

Portland Shape Note Singers - No experience is required at this free
community shape note singing event. We sing from The Sacred Harp, a songbook
continuously in print and in use since 1844. This American folk tradition of
unaccompanied 4-part harmony singing is spirited, exuberant, and LOUD. We'll
sing from 9:30AM-3:30PM, with a break at noon for a free potluck lunch.
Participants may come and go throughout the day as they please. All ages are
welcome, though childcare will not be provided. Songbooks will be available to
borrow for the day or purchase for $20. Come sing with us!

Mountains to Metro - Over 30 wineries, large and small, from the acclaimed
Chehalem Mountains and Ribbon Ridge AVAs will bring their wines “en masse” to
Portland on, May 6th from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Governor. Wineries will share
benchmark Pinot Noirs, as well as Chardonnays, Pinot Gris, Syrah and other
memorable wines…for every palate and cuisine. For more information, please
visit: www.mountainstometro.comFu

Looking for something else? We have a ton of other
local Portland
events -- check 'em out and feel free to add your own!

Mt Scott Arleta Neighborhood Real Estate Report

by Ross Seligman

Mt. Scott Arleta feels almost suburban though it is very much a part of urban
Portland. This is a wonderful neighborhood of older Portland homes and old
growth trees lining many of the streets. To learn more, clickhere.

Are you keeping an eye on Mt Scott Arleta or is it your neighborhood? Check
out this
link for a monthly updating real estate chart for this neighborhood. Also,
check out thewalkscorefor
Mt Scott Arleta.

In my monthly Portland real estate report, I always talk about how each
individual neighborhood is a micro-market. If you are looking to buy or sell in
a particular neighborhood, the most crucial information that you need to know is
what is going on in that neighborhood. In this situation, the overall Portland
market report is less important and the national real estate report is just
about useless. This posting is a real estate report for the Mt Scott Arleta
neighborhood of all homes in all price ranges. Feel free to request particular
neighborhoods in which you are interested in buying or selling and I am be happy
to do a report, just contact me on this forum or athttp://www.propertiesofportland.com.

If you are looking for homes in the Mt Scott Arleta neighborhood, visit this
link where you can search for homes by particular neighborhood:Click
Here

The first thing you will notice about individual neighborhoods as compared to
the overall Portland reports are that the numbers can be wildly different month
to month. Basically, the bigger the pool of data you are working with, the
smoother the stats become. As we focus on smaller areas, many different things
can happen month to month.

On to the report:

Here is the overall chart of inventory, sold, and pending for theMt Scott Arleta
neighborhood from 01/10 to 03/11:

In March 2011, there were 41 closed sales, 55 pending sales, and 247 homes on
the market in the Mt Scott Arleta Neighborhood.

One year change from March 2010 to March 2011:

Inventory (how many homes on the market for sale): Down 12.7%
Homes sold: Down 32.8%
Homes pending sale: Down 34.5%

Chart for average price
per square footage:

In the past 15 months, the average price per square footage in the Mt Scott
Arleta neighborhood has been between $115 and $145/sq. ft. In March 2011, the
average price per square foot in the Mt Scott Arleta neighborhood was $119.

One
year change fromMarch2010
toMarch2011:

Change in Price Per Square Foot:
March 2010: 140

March 2011: 119

Percentage Change: Down 14.7%

Days on Market,
Sold/List Price:

This chart is showing us two things. First, how many days on the market that a
home is spending, on average, before being sold. In March 2011, the average time
on market for a home in the Mt Scott Arleta neighborhood was 79 days.

The second thing that this chart is showing you is what percentage of the
listing price the owners actually are getting when the house is sold. This is a
great indication of the pressure on prices. In March 2011, sellers in Mt Scott
Arleta received, on average, 92% of their original listing price.

More stats for you:

Change from March 2010 to March 2011:

Time on Market: Up 88.1%
Sold/List price% difference: Down 3%

Average price for sale
vs. average price of sold:

This chart shows us what the average listing was and what the average sale was.
In March 2011, the average price of a house on the market in Mt Scott Arleta
Neighborhood was $208,000. The average sale was $182,000.

More stats over one year:

Average active price: Down 5.9%
Average sold price: Down 18%

Months of Inventory:

Months of inventory gives a time line of how long it would take for all of the
current listings to sell. Anything above 4 months is considered a buyers
market. This figure is a good indicator of supply and demand. March 2011 in
the Mt Scott Arleta neighborhood was a buyer's market with 6 months of
inventory.

By the way, this does NOT mean that it will take 6 months for your home to sell.
That figure was, on average in March, 79 days. Inventory is a figure that means
that, if not another home were to come on the market in Mt Scott Arleta from
this point forward, in 6 months there would not be another home to sell. They
would all be sold.

That's It!

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